Cracks in The Mind (Sequel to Kogyo High)
by GiratinaTamer
Summary: The year continues to pass and just as things seem to get better, everything starts to go down hill once again as a student that the entire school fears returns. Love seems to be taking its toll as the familiar storm of angst starts to return. Minds will crack, but not all of them will repair. (Sequel to Kogyo High) (Ships included: Setosolace, Skylox, Bakilox, TBNRstar and Merome)
1. Chapter 1 - Danger

_"I've always had a theory."_

_"Yeah? What is it?"_

_"Well, I think that there is a moment in everyone's life when the cruelness of the world hits you so hard that your mind cracks. You're stuck in between. And your first big action afterwards determines whether your mind will shatter or slowly repair."  
><em>

_"...I- I dunno, Seto. That's like really over my head."_

_"Haha. I suppose I'm just been reading too many fantasy books. I need to get my head out of the clouds."_

_"N- No, no. It's a good theory. Even though I didn't really understand. It sounded interesting."  
><em>

_"Ceco... Thank you."_

* * *

><p><strong>Ty's POV<strong>

"...Ty..."

"Yeah?"

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time."

"What is it?"

"I know this is gonna sound cheesy and sudden, but... From the moment I saw you for the very first time...I...I... You make my heart race. You leave me breathless. You've got me thinking about you nonstop. What can I say? You've stolen my heart, Ty. I...I love you."

"..."

"Only a fool wouldn't fall for the most beautiful person in the whole galaxy. So before anyone else can get a chance to take you away from me...I have to ask you... Will you be mine forever?"

"...Oh hell no."

"Ty!" Adam growled in frustration.

"Yes, babe?"

"Stick to the script! Stop goofing around and making up your own lines as you go!" He nagged.

"But Adam~..." I whined. I was probably trying way too hard to make this fun.

"No buts! Let's start from the beginning." He glanced at his script and opened his mouth, ready to say his first line when I interrupted him for like the trillionth time.

"Why are we doing this again?" I was exhausted. We've been at this for like the past three hours. Who wouldn't be worn out? Adam narrowed his eyes at me and crossed his arms. He was obviously getting fed up with me.

"Excuse me, Mister Whinesalot. I'm pretty sure you're the one who decided to be in the school play and dragged me along."

"...Wh- I didn't decide! Tyler and Kyle forced us to...! They signed us up without us even knowing!" I reminded him. There was a quick flash of confusion in his golden eyes as he blinked.

"Oh yeah. Forgot." He laughed and scratched the back of his head. I raised an eyebrow. Adam had been acting...off for the past couple of months now. I mean, from the first time I'd met him, he had always been weird and slightly crazy, but now he would sometimes act...different. Maybe it's just me.

"Well...whatever. Can we just take one little break?" I pleaded. Adam studied me.

"...Nah."

"Adam."

"Nope."

"I'll buy you sushi."

"Deal."

**Preston's POV**

I turned off my iPod after finishing my homework. I sat up and flung my legs over the side of my bed. Standing up, I walked over to my window and drew back the red curtains. I looked down to see the driveway empty. My dad must have left for work while I was blasting music in my ears so I probably didn't hear him leave. Then I caught something at the corner of my eyes.

A boy.

Across the street.

Sitting on the sidewalk.

His head hung low so I was unable to see his face and thankfully he didn't see me either.

But that short blonde hair...

And that black suit.

I know I've seen him before.

But where?

The sound of the front door opening and closing resonated in my ears, followed by an extremely familiar 'greeting'.

"Honey, I'm home~!" My best friend, Kenny, sang.

"I'm upstairs!" I shouted while closing the curtains. Several seconds of footsteps coming closer and closer echoed throughout the otherwise silent house.

"Hey bro. How's it hangin'?" Kenny walked into my room. He stopped in front of me and placed his hands on his hips. "Man, I haven't seen you in forever!"

"And by forever you mean the past hour?"

"Exactly! School makes it feel like an eternity!" I giggled at his remark. "...By the way, Vikk wanted me to ask you if you wanted to be his partner for the science project that your class is working on. He forgot to ask you at school."

"A- Again...?" My voice cracked.

This is like the sixth time in a row that Vikky asked me to be his partner or be in his team for something. I mean we had lots of friends that had the same classes as us. So why does he always want me to team up with him?

I'm not complaining though.

Am I?

I mean it's not like I ever said no to him.

I find it hard to say no.

T- To a lot of things...! Not just Vikky.

"Hello~? Earth to Purrston~? Is everything alright?" When I snapped out of my thoughts, Kenny was waving his hand in my face.

"U- Uh...Yeah. Sorry..." I stammered. Kenny studied me for a few seconds. The corner of his mouth turned into a small smirk.

"Hey. Is Vikk bothering you?"

"H- Huh...?"

"I know you, Preston. I know when something or someone's bothering you. Tell me. Is he?"

"N- No...! No. It's fine." I sighed. Kenny gave me that I-don't-believe-a-word-you're-saying-but-I'll-let-it-be-for-now look.

"Fine, fine. If you say so." He slightly raised his arms in defeat. "Now, show me that new video game you were talking about."

**Noah's POV**

What do you call a situation like this?

Are they afraid of me...?

No that's definitely not it. Just being near them, I can feel their hatred and urge to rip my limbs off radiating off of them.

I've heard a lot of rumors going around that they had grown soft. No one had gotten hurt by them in a while.

But it wasn't because they were afraid of me.

So what would you call it?

I guess you could say... I had power over them. I had control over their fate.

They make one mistake and it's off to jail for them.

"Open wide, Noah."

"Huh-" I felt the texture of bread brush against my slightly parted lips. I instinctively bit a piece off and chewed.

Mustard...lettuce...tomato...cheese...

Oh. A sandwich.

I swallowed before growling slightly.

"Don't shove things in my mouth so suddenly. It's weird."

Hm... That could've came out better.

"Stop being so bossy, Noah." Palmer's voice mocked from beside me. "And you're the one who keeps on drifting off into Lala Land."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I crossed my arms.

"Did you guys here?" Brayden's voice snickered. "Today, a girl in gym class went one-on-one with Simon. She totally owned him and Simon didn't kill her. He didn't even lay a finger on her. He just stormed out of the gym with his face as red as a tomato." The three of us shared a few loud snickers and yet deep inside, I had a sick feeling.

I did have power over them, right?

And yet...

Have I put myself in danger...?


	2. Chapter 2 - Scary Dude

**Ceco's POV**

"What the hell is taking him so long?" Baki asked as he kicked a rock off the sidewalk in a rather aggressive manner.

"Probably getting high. The chick's been super stressed lately-" Pomby couldn't even finish before Baki grabbed him by his hoodlaces.

"Martin is not a fucking 'chick', Pomby." He hissed. The dimwit only nodded in understanding and Baki shoved him away. "Dumbass..."

The four of us have been waiting for Martin in an alleyway by a store. Not gonna lie, it was pretty boring without him. And a tad bit awkward.

"M- Maybe something came u-"

"Zip it, brat." Baki snapped at me, causing me to flinch. Simon sneered at me, like he always did to people who acted scared.

Ever since Martin found me, my relationship with the others hadn't really changed.

Simon, Pomby and I got used to putting up with each other. Well, Pomby doesn't really count. He's just stupid and goes with everything. However, Baki and I never really got along. And ever since that incident with Seto, he'd been extremely suspicious of me and always points out the mistakes I make in front of Martin.

Now that I think about it, there had been something suspicious about Baki, too lately...

"Martin...!" Baki exclaimed. Simon stood up from his crouching position and turned to the direction Baki was looking in. It didn't take us long to realize Martin's limping as he approached us. His jacket sleeve had been torn and blood trickled down his face from a cut on his forehead. His sunglasses were broken, revealing a bit of the purplish red swelling skin around his left eye. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as he stopped. His legs seemed to have given out as he fell forward, Baki catching him.

Silence.

"M- Martin...?" I tried not to whimper. He didn't reply. At least not instantly.

"...We're...skipping school...tomorrow..." His words came out as if they were carefully rolling off his tongue.

"Wh- Why...?" Baki questioned.

"Shut it... Just fucking listen to me if you...know what's good for you..." His voice lowered at the last few words.

My heart only pounded faster.

**Ty's POV **_(Next Day)_

I sat up straight, only to end up face planting into my lunchbox.

"Did you get any sleep at all?" Adam asked from beside me. I slowly looked up at him, knowing very well that my eyes were puffy, and slowly shook my head. "You have to stop procrastinating. The next time you get assigned a shit ton of homework, you do it right away."

"Why are you scolding me?" I mumbled through my lunchbox. "Don't you do the exact same thing?"

"Yup. And I don't want you to be like me." He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer. I rolled my eyes.

"Aww, you're so sweet." I stated, my voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

"I know." He grinned.

"Careful, you two." Jason spoke up from beside us. "You don't wanna give the wrong message to everyone, do you? If there's one thing that high school's are known for, it's spreading rumors."

"It's called bromance." I crossed my arms. "If people can't understand that then that's their problem." Just then, an awfully familiar pink haired boy strutted up to our table.

"Any of you sexy gentlemen kind enough to donate to the poor?" Kyle put on one of those over exaggerated sad puppy faces.

"You forgot your lunch_ again_?" Jordan questioned. Kyle just shrugged and nodded.

"Well you're not getting anything. 'Specially after what you did to us." Adam gestured to me and himself.

"Yes. I helped you two. Now you're one step closer to finding your love for each other. Anyone at this table who thinks Adam and Ty are meant for each other, raise your hands." Kyle ordered. At the corner of my eye, I could see Sub, Jason and Jordan exchanging glances before, one by one, they slowly started raising their hands. Even Bashur and some of his friends who were sitting at the table beside us, raised their hands. Adam turned to them.

"Traitors." He hissed.

"See? Everyone knows that you guys are soul mates." Kyle cooed.

"Sh- Shut up...!" Adam grabbed his spoon and threw it at Kyle. The pink haired teen scurried off with a snort. "...So. Where were we?" Adam turned back to everyone with his usual smile, as if none of that ever happened.

"I think we were discussing you and Ty's broma-" Jason was cut off by the sound of a door swinging open and fast footsteps.

"He's alive!" I heard someone scream. The cafeteria's volume slowly lowered as everyone turned to the teen running in from outside. He had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a blue t-shirt with a light blue slime on it and black pants. He stopped in the middle of the cafeteria, panting, all eyes on him. "He... He's alive...! I saw him! He's coming!" Everyone started exchanging worried looks, except me. I was confused as fuck.

"You don't think it's..." Jordan started.

"The Satan spawn with the same name as you? I doubt it." Adam stated. "I mean it couldn't be... Could it?"

"Maybe it's jus-" Again, Jason was cut off by the sound of the door opening and footsteps. However this time, the door was slammed open with great force and slow footsteps soon followed. They echoed through the room almost hauntingly. I could feel the rising terror emitting off of everyone as they all took glances towards the entrance. Adam froze and tensed up, staring straight down at the table. The others did the same. Sub was trembling like mad.

That was not a good sign.

...

Just one look.

Then I'll do like everyone else.

I slowly turned my head towards the direction of the footsteps.

A guy.

Unzipped leather jacket, half of the sleeves ripped off. A white t-shirt. Black sweat pants with a couple white stripes and a belt. Dirty old black boots.

I then took a risk and looked at his face.

Short black messy hair. Navy blue eyes that were half covered by red shades with grayish blue lenses. You could see a slight beard starting to sprout on his chin. His eyes narrowed as they darted around the room and I knew that was my signal to turn away and stare downwards like everyone else. So I did that.

There was a long silence as he stopped in front of the boy who ran in before him.

"...Haven't forgotten me, I see." His voice was calm and sly. "Still, I'm a little disappointed. I've been gone for a year and no 'Welcome back'? I'm hurt." The sound of the other boy yelping made me strain my eyes and stare as he was lifted up and dumped, head first, into a garbage can. The scary dude kicked it over and the boy inside groaned in pain and disgust. "...Don't stand in my way..." The scary dude stated with no emotion whatsoever. He slowly began making his way upstairs, his footsteps echoing throughout the room. Once they were too far away for anyone to hear, people started looking back up with terrified expressions. Uneasy conversations started up.

"Who..." I turned to Adam just as he turned to me. He knew exactly what I was gonna ask.

"Jordan." He answered with an almost dead look. "Jordan Maron."


	3. Chapter 3 - Fear

A/N: I feel stupid for not realizing this issue earlier. XD I somehow put three different people with the same name into this story without even realizing it. So I'm just gonna put this here to try and de-confuse you guys.

In this story, there is:

PerpetualJordan - The Jordan that hangs out with Adam, Ty and some of their friends sometimes

MCFinest Jordan - The Jordan who is one of the triplets (He's dead now so you don't really have to worry about him :P)

CaptainSparklez - The Jordan that everyone's afraid of and made his first appearance in the last chapter

To try and keep you guys from getting PerpetualJordan and Sparklez mixed up, I'll most likely refer to Sparklez by his full name, Jordan Maron, in the story. If I don't then whoops. :P

Okay on with the story~

* * *

><p><strong>Adam's POV<strong>

"Jordan...Maron...?" Ty repeated. I nodded, rubbing my arm. I tend to do that when I'm anxious. "And may I ask who he is?"

"One word." Jordan started. Ty gave him a look.

"Let me guess. Asshole?"

"Nope." The hobbit lover shook his head. "Demon."

"Damn straight." Jason had made his way to our table and sat down in between Ty and I with his tray of food. "He literally came from the depths of hell. Every single living being in this school is his prey. And when he finds prey, it's like a storm of violence. Blood's everywhere, guts fly, he'll chew on your bones and munch on your organs. He sucks blood form your neck and-"

"Jesus christ, Jason, you're scaring him." I gestured to Ty who was actually slightly shaking. Jordan rolled his eyes at Jason and leaned over from his side of the table to pat Ty's shoulder.

"Don't listen to him, Ty. He isn't _that _horrifying." He sat back down. "But you will probably still lose a decent amount of blood if you encounter him."

"He's basically your average douchebag. Popular, strong, chick magnet, gets bad grades in everything, is enemies with every teacher and the principal, probably goes to a bunch of parties and drinks, smokes and has unprotected sex, is a total jerk, you get the gist." Bashur explained from his table.

"Actually, I hear that he's pretty good in music class." Jordan stated.

"Martin and his group of now soft pillows were one thing, Ty. But I'm giving you the most important warning of your life." I looked at him straight in the eyes- although I could only see one of his eyes- with the most serious expression I could pull. "Do not, I repeat, do _not _look at, talk to or go near Jordan Maron. Or you _will _be pushing up daisies. Or at least spend a couple years in the hospital. Understand?" Ty stared at me as if I had turned into a Pikachu or something but nodded his head anyway.

**Lachlan's POV**

I let out a long sigh and turned towards the teen sitting beside me, his face buried in a book.

"Is this seriously all you do whenever you're not in the gym?" I whispered to him. He looked at me with his stop-bugging-me look and nodded before turning back to his novel. "Seriously? You just read?" I raised my voice slightly and the familiar shushing of the librarian came from behind me.

"If you're so bored then why don't you go back to the gym?" Vikk whispered back at me.

"Nah. I still wanna spend some quality time with my bae."

"Call me that one more time and you'll be drowning in one of the toilets in the girls' washroom." I grimaced slightly at his threat and placed a hand to my chest as if I was hurt.

"My bad. I forgot you'll only let one person call you that."

"And may I ask who this person that I'd like to call me 'bae' is?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. Starts with a 'P' and ends with a 'reston'." Vikk gave me a stupid expression.

"You actually think I'm into him?" He questioned. I nodded curtly in response. He looked back down at his book with a serious look in his eyes. "Lachlan, I'm not into guys." I slightly raised my eyebrows. Normally I'd brush that off and make a stupid joke, but he sounded pretty damn serious.

"Ho-" I cut myself off at the sound of heavy footsteps. A student had just walked into the library, opening the door. As the door slowly began to close behind them, I saw the last person I ever expected and wanted to see walk by. Everything went in slow motion as he walked past the door frame and for a split second, our eyes met before the door closed. And you better believe he grinned like a shark.

And me?

I shuddered like I had just seen Satan.

Well technically I did...

I grabbed Vikk's arm and stood up.

"We have to go." I said quietly. He groaned.

"What now?"

"I saw him."

"Saw who, Lachlan?"

"Just follow me...!"

"At least let me put away my boo- Lachlan!" Too late. I was already dragging him out of the library, the librarian hissing at us.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean he's back?!" Mat screeched, causing Jerome to miss his shot. The basketball he had thrown bounced off of the rim of the hoop and smacked Rob right in the head.<p>

"So my old 'pal' is back, eh?" Ryan muttered.

"How the hell is he even alive?" Ashley hissed. I shrugged.

"The fucker got lucky." Mitch growled, kicking a soccer ball in a rather aggressive matter. He looked around the gym until his gaze landed on two of the Finest triplets.

Or I guess we should just refer to them as twins now...

"Danny! Max!" Mitch called out. The twins stopped throwing the football they had and turned to our direction. Mitch signaled them to come over and they did exactly that. "You guys' grandfather works part time at the hospital, right?" Danny and Max nodded simultaneously. "Do you think you could get him to get every information about Jordan Maron there?"

"J- Jordan M- Maron...?" Max stuttered.

"Yup. It seems as though he came back from the dead." Ashley explained.

"Hey you're highness! Where do you think you're going?" Mat drove all of our attention to the British-Indian making his way towards the exit of the gym.

"I'm going to go get a snack." Vikk said with no emotion whatsoever.

"Vikky...?" Finally Preston, who had been too scared to talk, spoke up. "Are you okay...?" Vikk had his hand on the handle when he turned to Preston with an almost deadly look.

"Don't call me that." He ordered in a harsh tone. Preston flinched and I bit my lower lip. We were all silent when Vikk left.

"Somebody's got their panties in a bunch." Rob mumbled.

"Rob, just stop." Mat sighed. At the corner of my eye, I could see Preston give a fearful look to the floor.

I think I may have just messed up Vikk and Preston's friendship.


	4. Chapter 4 - Flashbacks

**Seto's POV**

_"Hey kid!"_

_I froze, not wanting to turn around and see if whoever called out wasn't calling out to me._

_Please tell me they weren't calling out to me._

_They weren't calling out to me, right?_

_Just as I grabbed my History binder from my locker, a huge hand thrust out just above my head and slammed my locker shut._

_"Ignoring me, eh?" I jumped at the sinister voice and the hot breath running down the back of my neck. That's one of the reasons why I wear hoods over my head as much as possible. Sadly you can't have hoods on in school. "Hey! Turn around and look at me!"_

_Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't turn around._

_"Oh look! He's trembling!" A female voice sneered._

_Oh great. It was a gang._

_"Looks like the little twit doesn't wanna listen."_

_"You know what happens to twits who don't cooperate, kid?" Before I could react, two sets of hands wrapped around my ankles and pulled. With a yelp I fell, face first, to the floor. I was dragged across the floor, not knowing where. It wasn't until I heard the sound of a toilet being flushed that I started panicking and struggling._

_"Now he struggles!"_

_Arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me up. I clenched my eyes shut and flailed my arms violently._

_"Let me go, let me go, let me go!" I wailed._

_"Too late for that, twerp." Blood started rushing to my head as they tipped me upside down. I built up oxygen in my lungs and tried to let out a scream._

_"HE-" That was all that came out before my head was drowning in the filthy toilet water._

* * *

><p><em>"Give us your food." Martin ordered blankly. Him and his gang surrounded me and backed me up against a wall. I held up my lunchbox as if it was a shield and shook violently.<em>

_"C'mon, we're hungry. And we don't got no food." Baki explained._

_"Wh- Why me...?" I stammered._

_"It was Pomby's turn to decide what we'd have for lunch today. And he wanted Asian food. You always bring Asian food." Martin explained. Pomby nodded and had the stupidest, but most terrifying grin on his face. "Food. Now."_

_"Or do we have to take it from you by force?" Simon cracked his knuckles. I took a deep breath and darted my eyes around. Pomby was to my right. Since he's slow witted, I might've been able to run past him without him catching me._

_Worth a shot._

_Just as Simon took a step towards me, I dashed right past Pomby and down the hallway. I didn't know where I was going, but anywhere was better than there._

_"You idiot!"_

_"Get him!"_

_I could hear the four sets of footsteps behind me and one was getting closer. Just as I was about to turn a corner, a pair of hands shoved me to the floor. My lunchbox fell out of my hands and a foot was placed on my back._

_"Stupid bitch." Martin growled. I whimpered as Baki grabbed my lunchbox and opened it up._

_"Jackpot!" He exclaimed as he pulled out the small box. "Teriyaki!"_

_"And sushi!" Pomby added, peeking into my lunchbox. A grin spread across Martin's face and he yanked out the plastic box of sushi. He teared the tape that held the cover in place and opened it up. His gaze was set on the small blob of green wassabi and then, his gaze turned to me._

_"Tell me, Seto. Are you into wassabi?" He asked. I didn't respond. Simon lifted his foot up from off my beck and squatted down behind me. He pulled me up so I was sitting and held my arms behind my back. Martin used the chopsticks to pick up the wassabi and carried it towards me. "Open up."_

_I kept my mouth shut._

_"You stubborn little bitch, open your goddamn mouth."_

_Still didn't open my mouth._

_"Do you want this shit in your eye instead?"_

_"Or up your ass?" Pomby added._

_"Shut up." Martin grumbled to the dimwit. "Baki help me out here." Said teen reached into the lunchbox and took out the fork my mom had put in there. He crouched down beside me and lifted my sweater and shirt up, revealing my bare skin. He placed the tip of the tines against my side. He slowly pushed on them and I felt them begin to dig into my skin. A small whimper of pain escaped my lips, but that was enough for Martin to shove the wassabi through my slightly parted lips. He pulled the chopsticks out and I gagged at the extremely strong scent. "Spit it out and that fork is going right through your side." He warned._

* * *

><p><em>I cried out in pain as the the beer bottle was smashed against the back of my head and shattered into pieces.<em>

_"First you defy me and then you try to run away from me?" The sinister voice hissed. "Unacceptable." I choked as he grabbed my neck and started strangling me. His breath reeked of alcohol and his blue eyes were filled with blood-lust. He threw me to the ground and slammed his foot against my chest._

_I'm almost positive my heart stopped for a second._

_I could see the blood running down my head and onto the pavement. He pulled me up by the neck again and held up his fist.  
><em>

_"I should've brought my gun with me. But I suppose beating you to a pulp will do." He stated blandly. I wasn't able to talk. He had strangled me and kicked me in the throat so many times that it felt like my vocal chords had just torn apart. All I could do was make animal-like noises in hopes that someone'll hear me._

_My left eye was swollen and a tooth hung loosely in my mouth. Blood trickled down from my nose and a gash on my temple._

_There was no way I would be able to hide these wounds from my parents._

_If I could even get back home._

_Jordan pulled out his knife and and almost instantly dug it into my stomach._

_But at this point, I was already half unconscious..._

* * *

><p>My eyes shot open and darted around the room.<p>

Flashbacks,

They were just flashbacks.

I was still in bed next to Brice who was sound asleep.

That's right. He was sleeping over with me.

I glanced over at the alarm clock.

2:30 am.

How the hell was I supposed to fall back asleep for another six hours?

What if I got more flashbacks?

I trembled as tears ran down the sides of my face. I instinctively curled up in a ball, the scene of Jordan Maron stabbing me in the stomach flashing before my eyes again. Tiny sobs escaped my lips, waking up and alerting Brice beside me.

"Seto...?" He groaned as he stirred out of his sleep. "Are you okay...?" My back was facing him.

"I don't wanna go to school again..." I whimpered as if being controlled. "I don't wanna go back, I don't wanna go back, I don-"

"Hey, hey! Just relax and tell me what happened." He said softly. That only got me more upset, having to remember the nightmares. I turned around to look at him, but all that came out was a snivel. I started sobbing quietly and Brice instantly held me in his arms. "There, there... It's okay."

But it's not okay. I'm scared, Brice.

"I won't let anyone that scares you go near you."

I don't wanna go back.

"You don't have to go back if you don't want to."

Hold me tighter...

"Everything'll be okay. I promise."

Don't ever let me go.

"Just let it all out..."

Please don't ever leave me, Brice...

**Max's POV**

I wandered down the large halls of the orphanage with Danny. A few children were here and there. Some of them waved at us. There was one really sweet girl who offered us cookies.

Mom and Dad were of somewhere, probably with all the younger kids.

But we weren't looking for a toddler.

The woman who greeted us at the entrance told us that the teenagers usually hang out outside in groups or stay in their rooms. We weren't allowed to go into the orphans' rooms so that kinda lowered our chances of finding a good brother.

"Okay, so what's your deal?" Once we reached the doors to the backyard, I stopped and turned to Danny. He looked at me, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you "what do you mean" me!" I hissed. "Why have you been your usual happy self? Why do you act as if Jordan never existed? Why didn't you cry when he died? Do you just not care about him? Is that it?"

Danny's expression switched from shock to anger.

"Of course I care about him! Why would you think I didn't?"

"It isn't natural for someone to just be A-OK after they watched their fucking brother die slowly!" I snapped, not caring if children could hear me. Danny's expression slowly turned blank and emotionless.

"...Who said that I was okay...?" He questioned coldly. My eyes slightly widened and he turned his back to me. "I'm going somewhere else. You go look for a brother." And with that, he slowly began walking away.

Crap...

Did I say something wrong?

You know what?

He deserved it.

I turned back to the doors and pushed them open. The sound of children playing was all I could hear as I walked outside.

There must have been like fifty kids...!

And sure enough, I saw a few groups of orphans that looked about me and Danny's age. Just by the looks on their faces, they seemed kindhearted and pure.

Definitely not like the teens at school.

I continued walking, a few kids greeting me, and scanned around the area, trying to see who I should talk to first. That's when I noticed the teen sitting all alone up against a tree.

"Hey!" I called out to him. He lifted his head up and looked in my direction. I couldn't see his facial expression, but he quickly stood up and ran behind another tree. I blinked.

Was he scared?

Or maybe just shy...?

"H- Hey, wait! Don't hide!" I jogged towards his hiding spot.


	5. Chapter 5 - The Story

**Max's POV**

"Come back! I'm not gonna hurt you!" I ran after him, jumping out of the way of a ball on my way there. Once I reached the tree, I peeked around it, seeing the boy sitting up against the other side of the tree with his knees up to his chest. "Hey." I greeted softly.

He immediately jumped away from the tree and turned to my direction with wide blue eyes. He slowly began backing away from me.

"Don't go! Why are you scared of me?"

"I- I'm not scared..." He mumbled.

Okay, so I know he speaks.

"Then why are you trying to avoid me?"

"C- Cause maybe I just don't like you."

"How can you not like me? We just met...!"

"Go away!" And with that, he took off.

"No, wait...!" By then, he had already disappeared into the crowd of children.

Wow, he was fast...

I stood there for a moment, pondering whether I should go after him or not. He seemed like he'd be one hell of a sibling to put up with. I should've just left him alone. But something in the back of my head bugged me to go after him.

I'm pretty sure I'd get in trouble if I 'harassed' him though...

And he didn't seem to be too fond of me...

You know what?

To hell with it.

I took off into the direction he went.

"Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!" I tried to dodge as many kids as I could. I hoped I wouldn't get into any trouble for this. Eventually I spotted him sitting up against the fence. Our eyes quickly locked and he scowled. Then he took off into another direction. "Are you serious?" I growled.

What the hell did this kid have against me?

Whether he hated me or not, I was not letting him get away.

I took off after him at full speed and in a matter of seconds, I was right on his tail.

"Quit chasing me!" He yelled. "Or I'm gonna te-" I ended up tackling him to the ground and he let out a mix of a yell and a groan. Pinning him to the ground, I finally managed to get a good look of him.

Surprisingly, he resembled me and Danny by quite a lot.

His hair was the exact same shade of brown as ours, though his hair was somewhat longer and curly. He looked like he was fed decently well and he didn't look like he worked out to much. His skin was slightly paler than ours. The only major difference were his cerulean blue eyes.

"Get. Off. Of. Me!" He screamed. That's when I realized the amount of kids staring at us.

Yeah, this was probably not gonna end well. I wondered how my parents would react if they saw me sitting on an orphan who's practically screaming and squirming for his life...

"Max, what the fuck!" I cringed at Danny's angry voice. "You're supposed to socialize with the orphans, not harass them!" I looked away from the boy and Danny in embarrassment.

"S- Sorry..." I murmured. I got off of him and the boy sent me the most killer death glare you've ever seen as he stood up and stormed off. Danny grabbed my wrist and dragged me back inside the mansion. "W- Wait...!" Of course Danny just ignored my struggling and protesting.

I ended up leaving the orphanage that day with an angry family, a day of doing all the chores around our house and I didn't even know that kid's name.

**Ty's POV**

"Ty, quit being stubborn." Adam begged.

"No. I didn't want to do this in the first place."

"Please? Do it for me."

"Nope."

"So is this play supposed to be like that Romeo and Juliette crap?" Tyler asked.

"Not really, no." Adam explained. "Long story short, it's about this boy who gets bullied and has a crush on this popular boy who's dating a girl. After a bunch of shit goes down, that boy realizes that he has feeling for the other boy so he dumps his obnoxious girlfriend and gets together with the other boy."

"So it's basically an extremely cheesy gay high school story." Kyle stated.

"Well... Yeah." Adam shrugged.

"And you and Ty are the stars of the show! Ty is bullied senselessly, desperately trying to catch the attention of the boy of his dreams: Adam." Kyle exclaimed.

"Shut up." I grumbled. "You guys are the ones that got us into this mess."

"Why are you two even here anyway?" Adam questioned. "Only the people who have a part in the play are supposed to be here in the auditorium."

"Isn't it obvious? We are part of the play."

"Since when?"

"You really thought we were just gonna leave you guys alone in this? We signed up to do stage work."

"It's basically a way to watch the play without having to pay."

"You sneaky fucks." Adam hissed. He turned back to me. "Ready to practice now?"

"Never." I crossed my arms.

"...Alright. Then I guess you'll never know the story of..." He coughed and lowered his voice before continuing. "...Jordan Maron..." I widened my eyes.

"Come again?"

"I mean I was thinking of telling you, but...if you're gonna be like that, then I guess you don't wanna hear it..." He trailed off.

"N- No, I wanna hear it! Please!"

"Promise you'll practice with me?" I nodded to the point where I thought my head was gonna fly off. Adam thought. "Hmmm... Alright." My face instantly lit up. I could see Tyler and Kyle give each other uneasy looks at the corner of my eye. Adam turned to the direction of the teen dressed in black who had the same amulet as him. "Taylor! Over here!"

Taylor turned at the sound of his name and stared at Adam who gestured him to come over. He did so.

"Okay, listen. This newbie over here has been begging to hear the story of you-know-who." Adam placed his hand on my head. I pouted slightly. Taylor stared at me with an expression that had absolutely no emotion whatsoever. How do people do that?

"...Very well." He instantly grabbed my arm and pulled me over to where no one was.

Jeez, was it really that serious?

"You wanna know about Jordan Maron? Well listen carefully 'cause you're only gonna hear this story once." He explained. I nodded eagerly. "It happened about a year and a half ago... You know that guy, Ryan, who always wears the batman shirts?" I nodded, remembering the older teen who usually hung out with Mitch and Jerome. "Ryan and I used to be acquainted with Jordan Maron."

_~FLASHBACK~_

**Taylor's POV**

Ryan and I were mostly there to help Jordan with stealing, robbing and raiding shit. We almost never got caught though. We were pretty good at avoiding the cops.

One afternoon, we decided to head over to the west side of the town which is where the poorer people lived. Jordan thought that stealing the only good stuff they had would be funny. But by then, Ryan and I had had enough of his shit.

It was a rather hot day, no clouds in the sky. We walked across a road towards a trailer that had no cars in its driveway. I was in charge of going around the house and peeking in through all the windows to make sure no one was home. Halfway through my job, I stopped and gave Jordan a look. In return, he gave me one of his most menacing looks. But by then, I was used to it. I didn't flinch like i was supposed to.

"What're you looking at? Get back to work, _Taylor_." He growled, knowing I hated my own name.

"I don't really feel like it, _Jordan._" I said coldly, using the same tone as he did.

"What's this? Disobeying me all of a sudden?"

"I don't really feel like doing this either." Ryan scratched the back of his head. "This is getting kinda old. Can't we go do something else instead?"

Jordan cackled and gave an ice cold "_no_" in response. "What's the matter? When did my friends suddenly turn into pussies?"

"_Friends_? More like _slaves_." I mumbled.

"Well if you're just going to be like that, _Taylor_, then I highly suggest you leave."

"Fine. We'll leave. All three of us."

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. We're all leaving. Now."

"Since when were you in charge?" This time, Jordan gave me a look that sent a chill up my spine.

"Ryan, grab him...!" I ordered. Ryan grabbed Jordan's arm while I grabbed the other. We started dragging him away from the trailer and across the road. However Jordan slipped out of our grips halfway across.

"What in the fuck is your deal?" He hissed.

"Jordan, this is ridiculous! We have to stop doing this!" I exclaimed. "How would you feel if some teens raided your shit?"

"I think you've forgotten that I'm a sociopath._ I don't care._" He stated. "What the hell do you guys want more from me? I give you both like 10% of what we find!"

"That's not the point, Jordan!" I snarled as Ryan tried to grab him again. "It's illegal!"

"It's illegal to murder people, but people still do it!"

"Either you stop or we turn ourselves in. Your choice."

"You fucking..." Jordan reached for my neck to strangle me and I did the same in return.

"Uhhh...g- guys...?" Ryan tried to get our attention, but we were too busy trying to kill each other. "Guys...?!" He raised his voice, but we still paid no mind to him. "_Guys!_" He screeched. I was surprised I didn't hear the sound of it coming closer. It wasn't until it honked loudly that I turned my head. I felt my heart stop and saw Jordan beside me go white.

But by then it was too late to run...

"_Ryan!_" I shouted. And I tackled him to the ground just as the massive truck drove over us.


	6. Chapter 6 - A Madman is Born

_~END OF FLASHBACK~_

**Ty's POV**

"Wh- What...?!" I sputtered once Taylor started finishing up his story. "A _truck _ran you over?" He nodded.

"Ryan and I were fine. The truck was high enough so that it just drove right over us, its wheels rolling by on each side of us." He paused for a moment before continuing. "However Jordan wasn't so lucky."

Oh god.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear this.

"The truck had stopped a bit after it drove over us. Ryan and I stood up, completely petrified. And then we saw Jordan, which made Ryan lose his lunch. Neck broken, arms and legs bent in unnatural ways, a few broken ribs and blood. So much blood." Taylor explained, almost whispering the last part. Just imagining the sound of somebody's bones breaking made me shiver and almost gag. It just seemed too...disgusting to me. "The doctors said that he wouldn't make it... So why... _Why is he here...?!_" I jumped slightly at Taylor's sudden change of tone.

"Everything okay back here?" The boy in the grey business suit with blue hair and spiky orange sideburns, one of Adam's friends, had seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"Yeah... We're fine..." Taylor took a deep breath. The boy raised an eyebrow at us before wandering off.

And just as if everyone's wish came true, guess who had suddenly barged into the auditorium?

"Oh there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" The room instantly fell silent. I didn't even have to look to know who it was. I remembered when Sub had passed a note to me in our Ethics class that read how _everyone _in the school was afraid of Jordan Maron. Even the teachers. Even the _principal_.

_Okay, time to follow the rules I was told over and over again._

_Do not talk to him._

_Do not make eye contact with him._

_Do not look in his direction in general._

_Do not go anywhere near him-_

_Why does it sound like his footsteps are getting closer?_

_Oh my god, he's walking towards me._

_Oh my god, he's coming near me!_

_Oh my god, he's right fucking behind me, isn't he?_

I was completely terrified and frozen from head to toe.

Was he gonna do anything to me?

Well that question was soon answered once I was practically thrown aside like a rag doll, my head hitting the floor hard.

"Taylor!" Jordan Maron exclaimed, the sarcastic tone in his voice almost severe. "Long time no see, _pal_!" I couldn't see what was happening. At least clearly anyway. I had to rely on my hearing. I heard Taylor growl, but he didn't say anything. "What's wrong Taylor? Didn't you miss me? I know I missed you. I was so lonely in that hospital."

And I thought _I _was sarcastic.

"No need to say anything right at this moment. We'll have a chat outside." They both walked out of the room, though it sounded like Taylor was being somewhat dragged. Once the door had opened and closed, I could hear footsteps rushing over to me and I knew it was Adam by his strength when he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" He asked, obvious terror in his voice. "I thought he was gonna _really _hurt you!"

"Y- yeah I'm fine..." I groaned. "Just wait until everything stops spinning for me and my headache goes away."

"Wanna go get an ice pack from the infirmary?"

"But what about rehearsing?" Oh god, it feels like someone's constantly hitting my head with a hammer.

"Screw rehearsal! You're freaking injured!" I suddenly felt myself falling backwards, Adam grabbing both of my arms and pulling me back up straight. "Will you be able to walk?"

"I doubt it."

"Want me to carry you?"

"Nnnooo, that's okay... I'll just wait here..."

"Suit yourself, hun."

"Stop it."

**Ceco's POV**

I sat on the sidewalk in front of my house, sighing and contemplating my life.

Was it really worth going on?

My dad would've probably disowned me if I told him what I've been doing the past year.

Maybe I should've ran away.

Ran as far away from here as possible.

Far away from my dad's disappointed face.

Far away from Seto's heartbroken expression that still haunts me.

Far away from everyone's grimaces when they see me.

Far away from Martin's judgement.

Far away from Simon's beatings.

Far away from Ba-

"Get up."

An eerie shadow was suddenly looming over me, blocking the rays of the sunset from hitting my tear stained face.

"Hey. Didn't you hear me?"

Oh.

That shadow was a person's.

I slowly looked up only to be met with dead, cold, heartless, black eyes.

"Get. Up." Baki grabbed me by my tie and yanked me upwards, our noses almost touching. "Aww, were you crying? What's the matter?" He cooed mockingly. I was about ready to cry a second river when he suddenly pushed me to the ground. Tiny rocks scattered across the sidewalk had dug into my palms. I sniffled and in return got a kick to the hip.

Baki knew I was weak. He knew I was a softy, a baby, a pussy, who couldn't even take a simple slap to the face. The others had been a lot more agressive towards me than usual. Simon's usual beatings when I did something wrong seemed longer than usual. Pomby, who couldn't do shit without being commanded, would now give me a good kick in the ankle or knee from time to time. And Baki, who's almost never physically violent towards me... Well now just look what he was doing to me. Even Martin, who would usually stop them from hurting me,, didn't even care what they did to me.

"P- Please stop..." I whimpered. He stepped on my hand, getting more small stones stuck into more skin.

"You're a sad, pathetic excuse for a human being. You know that, right?" He didn't sound amused at all, even though he was making me more miserable than I already was. I nodded as fresh tears started leaking out of my eyes. After a couple more kicks, he left. No, goodbye, no final insult or final blow. He just straight up left me there crying and aching on the sidewalk.

The sudden feeling of someone watching me swept over me. I glanced around. No one ever noticed each other in my neighborhood. It was as if we were invisible or just simply didn't exist to each other. Then I saw the figure in the window of the house right across from mine. I blinked the remaining tears out of my eyes to get better vision. He looked about my age, maybe a bit younger. Red hair. Or maybe dyed orange? I couldn't tell. It was kinda spiky though. It looked like he wore a black suit with a short tie that matched the color of his hair.

Wait...

I've seen this guy before.

I definitely have.

And he was indeed staring right at me.

My anxiety taking over me, I slowly and weakly pushed myself off the ground before limping up my driveway. I didn't want anyone to see me like this. I paused and turned around to see if he was still staring at me.

But he was gone...

**3rd Person POV**

Martin stomped back and forth, back and forth. He had been pacing for a good ten minutes by now. Simon was growing tired. He hadn't gotten a good night's rest since...well, when had he started smoking again? A few months ago? A year maybe?

Pomby's mind was just slowly becoming blanker and blanker by the second, as if his mind literally started erasing things he knew after a few minutes of doing nothing.

"We have to do something about this blind little fucker. He could already be telling people."

Simon was about to speak up when suddenly Martin was right up in his face.

"Hell, the cops could already be on our trail!"

Pomby thought for a moment at Martin's words. He knew what cops were. Cops were also related to jail. He was pretty sure that jail was a bad thing.

"That isn't good, is it?" He mumbled.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Martin snapped at his dimwitted companion.

"Well what're we gonna do? It's not like we can erase his memory or something." Simon stated, yawning the last few words.

"Maybe we can. We can give him a concussion...but if it fails to make him lose his memory then he'll start telling." Martin let out a yell of frustration. He smashed an empty beer bottle underneath his feet, not caring if his dad could hear him from upstairs. Then again, the old man was probably wasted and sprawled across the couch like always. "There has to be something we can do! I'm about to fucking lose it!"

Simon took a step back. Pomby blinked.

"We've already lost our reputation! Especially with Jordan Maron back! We need to get it back!"

"How?" Simon hissed. "If we do anything, that blind bitch of a kid's gonna chew us out!"

Martin was about to slap Simon for stating the obvious...

And then it hit him.

The light bulb that had been long since burnt out had lit up.

A wide smile stretched across his face and slowly grew into the most terrifying, disturbing grin Simon had ever seen.

It was the grin of a boy who had lost his sanity.

The grin of a newborn psychopath.

And then the sentence that made Simon's breath hitch came out.

"I'm going to kill him."


End file.
